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Regardless of how many years you have been weightlifting, there’s always something new to learn that can help you get better results. Strength workouts are a vital piece of a healthy lifestyle, but there are some things you could be doing that could be causing harm to your body. Find out what to avoid in your strength training workouts ahead.
It’s easy to make the mistake of adding a ton of weight on your home weight lifting equipment to try and build strength, but this is not where your focus should lie. Instead, you should protect your from for any strength training exercise before you start to add weight to truly work your muscles and avoid injuries.
As you perfect your form, you will challenge yourself by naturally. adding more weight, However, there is the mentality from some that you should always push your body to do one or two more reps. The repercussions of the “one more rep” mentality can hurt you long-term.
When you do attempt to go for your maximum weight or push yourself like you never have before, it’s foolish not to have a spotter. Not having someone who can help you get the weight back up is a major reason why injuries occur in the first place. If you don’t have a spotter with you all the time, you can get away without one for your normal routine with the safety bars and machines, but you should always have a spot for a max.
You may not see the need to stretch before a workout, but it’s an essential part of your workout routine. Stretching before and after a workout is important because your muscles can get tense, leading to an injury. There are various stretches that should do the trick, but you can also use accessories like foam rollers.
Before start to lift, it’s always a good idea to get a warmup in to get the blood flowing. An easy way to do this is by running on a treadmill for five minutes at a steady pace. You don’t want to exert all your energy with a warmup, but just do enough to get your body loose and ready for the workout ahead.
Another part of what to avoid in your strength training workouts is ignoring certain muscle groups. To reap all the benefits strength training has to offer, this means you must work out your entire body, just not all at once. Create a schedule that focuses on certain muscle groups during different days of the week so you can give those areas the necessary rest they need and never skip leg day.
Speaking of creating a schedule, while you might be looking to work out 24/7, rest is just as important. You don’t want to use rest days as an excuse, and having one or two a week is perfectly fine and necessary so your body can get the rest It needs.
A key to working out is going in with a plan, but you might also be making the mistake of not diversifying your workouts. Over time, your body will get used to the exercises you do, and you may no longer truly work your muscles. Don’t be afraid to try new workouts because that is how you truly improve at the gym.
The order in which you do your exercises is also important, and this is where having an exercise plan comes in handy. A workout should usually tackle compound exercises that work more muscle groups like squats, bench press, and deadlifts before you move on to isolated movements like bicep curls and leg curls. The main reason why you want to go in this order is that you are in better shape to tackle the more difficult lifts at the beginning. However, it might be difficult to go in this order when you go to a crowded gym. At home, you can build your own gym and build strength correctly.
Machines are great if you are older or have recently gone through injury, but if you are looking to go through a transformation, then you are going to need to use free weights. Unlike machines, free weights will make you stronger because lifting them is more difficult. This doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate machines into your workout, but most of your workout should consist of lifting free weights if you are serious about reaching your goals. Plus, free weights are more flexible in terms of what you can do with them as well.
Weightlifting isn’t meant to be easy, but you can be distracted by being on your phone for long durations of time in-between sets, which can hurt your gains. While you still need to be smart and not push yourself too hard, you still need to keep your heart rate up. A rule of thumb is to never rest longer than one minute as you work out.
If there is one drink you should always have on you during your workout, it’s water. There are many other sugary sports drinks out there that you can consume, but there’s never been a better way to stay hydrated than to drink water.
As for recovery, there’s no better way to do so than with protein. After a workout, you should either drink a protein shake or eat a protein bar. Protein is known to repair and build muscles, making it a vital component of your diet and a form of recovery.
Strength training requires a ton of consistency in several aspects. You either need to hold yourself accountable or find someone who will, so you can achieve a healthy lifestyle as well as reach your fitness goals. To reiterate, this is why creating a workout schedule is such an important thing to do. Being inconsistent will show and you will not be obtaining the results you are looking for.
The last piece of advice for strength training is to surround yourself with the best type of equipment out there. Using old equipment can not only hurt your progress but be dangerous as well. That is why you should invest in a home gym so you can train at the highest level. At Precor Home Fitness, you can find all the strength training equipment you need, from machines to free weights.
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